Source: h/t DALL-E.
The City of Richardson approved an application to build 279 apartments on Polk Street in downtown Richardson. The applicant requested exceptions from current zoning requirements: 1) 4-stories instead of 3-stories. 2) less open space 3) longer block length (580 ft) 4) less residential parking 5) service doors placed on street frontage. The request was approved by City Council 5-2, with Mayor Pro Tem Arefin and Councilmember Dan Barrios voting no. I applaud their votes, as I, too, would have voted no. But let's hear from the five Councilmembers who voted to approve this superblock apartment project.
Councilmember Ken Hutchenrider: "Y'all remember Isabelly's? Anybody ever go in and ask them what was happening? Did you frequent their shop? I frequented their shop. We went and I heard rumors they were shutting down. And I asked them, I said, Why are you shutting down? You know what they told me, We don't have customers. Plain and simple, we do not have customers."
Here's the rest of the story. Isabelly's closed in 2023, after operating on Main Street for over nine years. They had enough customers for the first five years. Covid had a lot to do with loss of customers. But so did the City of Richardson tearing up Main Street in a major reconstruction that lasted over two years. The reconstruction catered not to the businesses on Main Street but to the people driving through downtown. Main Street lost parking and gained another lane in each direction to get more cars through downtown more quickly. There were even more people passing by every day on Main Street than ever before, but it was harder to stop and shop. Main Street was made less friendly to business. Isabelly's closing shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone. The City was complicit.
Councilmember Curtis Dorian: "I know what you can do and what you're capable of doing, and you can include some of those details, some of the things that the residents ask for, if you could take that into consideration as you're going through and developing and get through design development. I realize this is just conceptual but you can take it through when you get to design development and get through the next set of conceptuals. I really think that we should consider that as we added that retail, whether it's 3000 square feet or 3500 square feet, however it's going to play out on the bays, however the bays are laid out, we really need that on the corner there, and we want people to be able to enjoy the downtown. So with that being said, I have to consider supporting this as well. Thank you."
Voting yes without getting the things you want explicitly included in the ordinance, sounds to me like a rookie negotiating error.
Councilmember Joe Corcoran: "I fully understand the philosophy and the theory behind, like, keeping the grid and really trying to keep streetscapes more compact, and, you know, keeping alleys and streets you can activate. Like, I really fully understand the philosophy."
But...you know there's a but coming. But Corcoran dismisses all that wisdom that he "fully understands" because he walked around downtown himself. I remember when Covid hit, everyone was suddenly an infectious diseases expert. I remember when the fires devastated southern California, everyone was suddenly a forest management expert. Now, because Corcoran did his own research and actually walked down Texas and McKinney Street, he's suddenly an urban design expert. He knows it's safe to disregard all that "theory" behind the benefits of compact street grids in downtowns. Like, what were all those urban design experts thinking when they wrote things like that? What were the professional consultants, ones that Richardson itself hired for their expertise, thinking when they drew up the regulating plan for downtown, the plan Corcoran is now tossing aside after his stroll downtown?
Councilmember Jennifer Justice "I think this checks all the boxes of what I've heard being concerns from from residents. Are we taking away McKinney Street? Yes, but there's a pass-through."
Consider a box on my list of concerns unchecked. Adding a pass-through is not an adequate replacement for a compact street grid. Urban design experts teach us that while a pedestrian tunnel is better than no connection, it rarely matches the urban vibrancy and accessibility of a continuous street grid. It shouldn't be the solution if the aim is to build a lively, walkable downtown environment. Ideally, integrating pedestrian-friendly elements at street level, such as wide sidewalks and active frontages would provide a more holistic approach.
Mayor Bob Dubey: "The passage through, I heard [the applicant] say extra lighting. I heard them say security cameras, those type things, it's going to be safe."
Spoken like a burly ex-football coach who grew up in another era. I'm reminded of something I recently read on social media.
"At the time I got married, 13 years ago, I lived in a flat. I liked it because it was a short walk from the train station. Good for getting home after late nights out. My wife moved in. One day she said, 'The only problem with this flat is that it's a long walk from the station.' Long? Turns out it's short if you go through the woods & the underpass, a route a woman would never think of taking. And that was my 1st lesson in how we inhabit the same space but live in different worlds."
"For more apartments,
sidewalks, street life are traded
for hollowed-out space."
—h/t ChatGPT
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